Increasingly empty kerk up for sale
For sale: one Durban Dutch Reformed Church, strictly to a buyer of the Christian faith who is willing to fork out R8m.
A declining Afrikaans community, the Covid-19 pandemic and a dwindling congregation have convinced the once-thriving Glenwood church to call it a day after 73 years.
Johan Bodenstein, chair of the Dutch Reformed Church Council in Port-Natal, said the financial burden of maintaining the property of almost 1,800m² had become overwhelming.
“The congregation is declining in size and therefore income is declining. Quite a lot of the income goes towards just maintaining the building,” he said.
“Covid did play a role but it’s actually just demographics. The community is an Afrikaans community, and it’s a declining community.
“There are fewer and fewer people, a lot of people are not coming because of Covid — we only have between 30 and 40 people on a Sunday — so we have to look at our options as it will become more difficult to balance the books.”
Bodenstein said he was disheartened that a lot of people, especially the younger generation, were moving to emerging and charismatic churches.
“It’s not a pleasant situation to be in, but we’re seeking spiritual guidance from God as to the way he wants us to operate.”
Property agent Riana Simms-Thompson said the sellers were adamant the building be sold to a business or another Christian church.
The church, which can seat about 350 people, has four bathrooms, offices, a mothers’ room, storage rooms, two kitchens and covered parking for 30 vehicles.
Dutch Reformed Church general secretary Dr Gustav Claassen said the church had lost about 300,000 members since the 1990s due to emigration.
“These are mostly young families with children that emigrated,” he said. “The negative birth rate is also impacting negatively on the potential number of members.”
Claassen said people were becoming less religious and Covid-19 had accelerated certain trends. “The very successful proactive reaction of some congregations to put virtual ministries in place can have an effect on the physical attendance of sermons in future,” he said. Other factors include the growth of “mega-churches” and secularisation. “Formalised religious events are not as popular as in the past. People are less religious, and those who are involved utilise other options, such as virtual ministries.”